. The naval history of the Civil War . ait for him and he would give him battleas soon as he could get some coal on board. The Captain of the Alabama occupiedfour days in preparations for battle, fillingthe bunkers so that the machinery wouldbe protected, sending down all useless sparsand top hamper, and doing everything possi- €50 THE NAVAL HISTORY ble to achieve success in the coming principal anxiety seemed to havebeen lest his English crew had grown rustyfor want of gunnery practice, which he hadbeen obliged to neglect in the more con-genial business of plundering and burnin
. The naval history of the Civil War . ait for him and he would give him battleas soon as he could get some coal on board. The Captain of the Alabama occupiedfour days in preparations for battle, fillingthe bunkers so that the machinery wouldbe protected, sending down all useless sparsand top hamper, and doing everything possi- €50 THE NAVAL HISTORY ble to achieve success in the coming principal anxiety seemed to havebeen lest his English crew had grown rustyfor want of gunnery practice, which he hadbeen obliged to neglect in the more con-genial business of plundering and burning;still, as the force of the Kearsarge was asnearly as possible the same as his own ship,he was exceedingly hopeful of tried after the battle to make it Alabama. 6 long 32-pounders, 1 rifled 100-pounder, (Blakeley) 1 8-inch shell-gun, lbs. 192 10068 360 8 guns, ..... In speed the Kearsarge had somewhatthe advantage. In tonnage the vessels werealmost the same. The Kearsarge had 163officers and men, the Alabama, 149. It. CAPTAIN (AFTERWARDS REAR-ADMIRAL) JOHN A. WENSLOW. appear that the Kearsarge had the ad-vantage in size, weight of ordnance andnumber of guns and crew; but this, likemany other of his assertions, is disputedby official records, which state as follows :Kearsarge. lbs. 4 short 32-pounders, weight of projectile, 128 211-inch pivot-guns, . 272 1 30-pounder rifle, . 30 7 guns, 430 was a matter of little consequence what bat-tery the Alabama carried, as so few of hershots struck the Kearsarge; and if, ashas been asserted, many of Semmes crewwere old English man-of-wars men, theirshooting did little credit to their training. With wise precaution, Semmes sent allhis valuables on shore before steaming outto meet his antagonist, who was eagerlywatching for his appearance. The weather OF THE CIVIL WAR. Col was fine, and a large number of peoplewere assembled on tbe heights to witnessthe engagement. The English yacht Deer-hound, owned by one of Semmes sympa-
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectunitedstatesnavy
